Tashkent is often treated as the city you pass through on the way to Samarkand or Bukhara. That view no longer does the city justice. Uzbekistan’s capital has far more depth: the old religious core around Hazrat Imam Complex, the energy of Chorsu Bazaar, a metro system that feels far more memorable than ordinary public transport, and a city centre where Soviet ambition, post-Soviet monumentality, and everyday urban life still meet.
The biggest change in 2026 is the Center for Islamic Civilization near Hazrat Imam. It gives the old city greater cultural weight and makes this part of Tashkent one of the capital’s most important heritage areas.
If this is your first visit, do not try to collect as many stops as possible. Tashkent works best when the day has shape: old city, market, metro, centre, one good museum, a proper plov stop, then an evening that feels distinctly local. If you prefer to explore with a guide, this is also where a look at Tashkent tours can be useful.
Best Things to Do in Tashkent at a Glance
If you are looking for the best things to do in Tashkent or the best places to visit in Tashkent on a short stay, start with these essentials:
Hazrat Imam Complex – the spiritual and historic backbone of old Tashkent.
Center for Islamic Civilization – the city’s most important new cultural opening.
Chorsu Bazaar – the market that gives the old city its most vivid everyday energy.
Tashkent Metro – one of the city’s most distinctive urban experiences.
Amir Temur Square – a useful anchor for understanding modern Tashkent.
Museum of Applied Arts – the best small museum stop for most visitors.
Besh Qozon – one of the city’s best-known plov stops and a lively introduction to Tashkent’s food culture.
Top Tourist Attractions in Tashkent for First-time Visitors
Explore the Hazrat Imam Complex
If you want to understand where old Tashkent still breathes, start here. Hazrat Imam Complex is the city’s main religious and historic ensemble in the old town and one of the first places to visit in Tashkent on a short trip. This is the place that gives the city a centre of gravity. Here, the logic of the old city becomes visible: scholarship, religious history, courtyards, domes, and a slower rhythm than in the modern centre. The surrounding mahallas (traditional neighbourhood community) add another layer to that experience: Gulbozor, behind Chorsu Bazaar, and Zarkaynar, behind the Center for Islamic Civilization, make this part of the city feel not only historic but inhabited – less like a self-contained attraction and more like a lived-in part of old Tashkent.
Visit the Center for Islamic Civilization
The Center for Islamic Civilization, opened in March 2026, is one of the most important recent additions to Tashkent’s cultural map. Located beside Hazrat Imam, it brings a major new dimension to the old-city district.
What makes the centre especially valuable is not simply the fact that it is new, but what it brings together in one place. Its Qur’an Hall houses the Quran of Uthman (widely regarded as one of the world’s oldest surviving Qur’an manuscripts), while the wider complex includes other rare manuscripts, historical artefacts, interactive displays and research spaces that trace the region’s religious, intellectual and cultural history.
Wander through Chorsu Bazaar
Everyone notices the blue dome first. The real reason to come is everything happening underneath and around it. Chorsu Bazaar, known since the Middle Ages, is one of Tashkent’s oldest markets and one of the best places to see the city in motion: bread, spices, produce, household goods, and shoppers moving with purpose.
Chorsu does not need half a day, but it rewards unhurried wandering. Especially in the morning, it feels less like a landmark and more like the city at work.
Ride the Tashkent Metro
In most cities, the metro belongs in a practical tips section. In Tashkent, it belongs in the main list of attractions. The Tashkent Metro is both transport and civic theatre, memorable enough to belong on the sightseeing list. Advantour’s own metro guide draws attention to stations such as Pakhtakor, Mustaqillik Maydoni, Buyuk Ipak Yuli, Alisher Navoi, Abdulla Qodiriy and Kosmonavtlar, and together they explain the city’s enduring metro fascination: marble, ceramic panels, carved details, and dramatic lighting turn an ordinary ride into one of Tashkent’s most distinctive experiences.
The best way to use it is not as a gimmick. Ride it after the old city and Chorsu, then move towards the centre. For travellers interested in design, Soviet-era urbanism, or simply memorable underground spaces, it remains one of the most rewarding things to do in Tashkent.
See the city centre around Amir Temur Square
Amir Temur Square is not the city’s deepest sight, but it is one of its most useful. This is where central Tashkent begins to feel more formal and ceremonial: broad avenues, clipped greenery, fountains, the equestrian statue of Amir Temur at the centre of the square, and some of the city’s most recognisable monumental landmarks. It makes the most sense after the old city, serving as a natural transition from the intimacy of old Tashkent to the broader, more monumental character of the capital.
Visit the Museum of Applied Arts
If you only visit one museum in Tashkent, this is one of the easiest to recommend. The Museum of Applied Arts is rich, visually distinctive, and manageable in scale, which makes it especially useful on a short city visit.
It adds texture to the day rather than simply extending the list of stops. If you are looking for cultural places to visit in Tashkent, this is one of the strongest options currently open to visitors.
What to Do in Tashkent by Interest
For history and Islamic heritage
Prioritise Hazrat Imam Complex, then continue to the Center for Islamic Civilization. Add Chorsu Bazaar afterwards and the whole route begins to feel coherent rather than fragmented.
For Soviet architecture and urban design
Make the Tashkent Metro the spine of the day, then move towards Amir Temur Square and the surrounding centre. This part of the city is worth seeing not for one single landmark, but for the way its architectural layers come together. The late-Soviet Hotel Uzbekistan, the domed Amir Temur Museum, the Tashkent Chimes, the former women’s gymnasium now used by the University of Law, and the Palace of International Forums all stand within a formal cityscape of broad avenues, fountains and ceremonial public space.
For markets and food lovers
Start at Chorsu Bazaar when it still feels fully purposeful and make time for its old food row, one of the best places to see the market at its most local: less about sightseeing, more about bread, grills, cauldrons, and the brisk rhythm of everyday eating in the city. Then leave room later in the day for a proper plov stop at Besh Qozon – either the famous branch by the TV Tower or the one on Glinka – or at Kamolon Osh.
Food here is not an afterthought; in Tashkent, it is part of how the city is best understood, and the city’s festive plov is often considered one of the finest versions of the dish in Uzbekistan.
For museums and decorative culture
Choose the Museum of Applied Arts first. It remains one of the best museum choices for a short city visit, not only because of its collection, but also because of the building itself, with its richly decorated interiors and strong sense of place. The Amir Timur Museum, now reopened after reconstruction and modernisation, is once again a worthwhile stop. Travellers who want something more intimate can also consider a house-museum tour in Tashkent, which shifts the focus from major institutions to the homes, studios and personal worlds of writers, painters, dancers and musicians connected with the city.
For an evening in the city
For something relaxed and closer to the city’s everyday rhythm, take an evening walk along Sayilgoh, once known as Tashkent’s Broadway. The nickname now feels grander than the street itself, but that is part of its charm: these days, it is a cosy pedestrian stretch best appreciated for its gentler pace, framed by fountains, trees, benches, and the easy comfort of the city centre. If you want to see Tashkent’s newer face after dark, head to Tashkent City Park around sunset. For travellers with a particular interest in opera, ballet or more formal cultural settings, Navoi Theatre works best as an optional evening stop.
For travellers who want to engage with culture
Tashkent also works well for short, hands-on cultural experiences. If you want something more participatory, choose a pottery, cooking, embroidery or wood-carving master class instead of adding another formal sight. Good options include Risola Handicraft Center, which combines traditional workshops, a ceramics museum, a craft gallery and a culinary corner, and the workshop of Akmal Azlarov, a master of the Tashkent school of wood carving, where visitors can join guided tours and practical master classes in the old city. For visitors who have already covered the main landmarks, these experiences offer a more personal way into the city’s cultural life.
What to Do in Tashkent in 1 Day
If you only have one day in Tashkent, keep the route disciplined. Start in the old city with Hazrat Imam Complex, then add the Center for Islamic Civilization while you are still in the same district if time allows. After that, head to Chorsu Bazaar.
In the afternoon, use the Tashkent Metro to move into the centre rather than relying only on taxis. Stop around Amir Temur Square, then choose the Museum of Applied Arts if you still want a museum stop. Finish with a relaxed evening walk in the centre and a good local dinner.
If you would rather see the city with a fixed route and transport already arranged, this is also a natural point to consider a private Tashkent city tour.
What to Do in Tashkent in 2 days
With two days in Tashkent, the city opens up properly. On Day One, focus on the essentials: Hazrat Imam Complex, Chorsu Bazaar, the metro, and the central city. Day Two can then be shaped more personally – around the Museum of Applied Arts, a slower walk through modern Tashkent, or a hands-on cultural experience such as a pottery, embroidery or cooking master class. This is also the better day to add the Center for Islamic Civilization if you want to give the old city more time and attention.
Best Places to Visit in Tashkent If You Have Extra Time
Minor Mosque is visually striking and easy to add if you want another religious site after the old city, but it should not displace Hazrat Imam or the Center for Islamic Civilization in the first-tier ranking.
Tashkent TV Tower makes more sense as a modern contrast or optional viewpoint than as a universal must-see.
Modern family and evening stops can work especially well later in the day if you are travelling with children or want a lighter, more contemporary contrast. Seoul Mun on the embankment, Tashkent City Park, and Magic City all offer that change of mood. Magic City is the strongest family option of the three, not least because of Magic Aquarium, whose appeal goes beyond standard aquarium displays to include penguins and, more recently, capybaras. It has also gained another contemporary draw with AYA Project, an immersive light-and-sound space that makes this part of the city feel more dynamic after dark.
None of these places needs to sit at the heart of a first-time itinerary, but together they show a more playful, polished, and modern side of Tashkent.
Practical Tips for Visiting Tashkent
The easiest mistake in Tashkent is treating it like a city of isolated landmarks. It works better in clusters. Pair Hazrat Imam Complex with the Center for Islamic Civilization and Chorsu Bazaar, then use the Tashkent Metro to shift into the centre.
The second mistake is underestimating the city’s size. Tashkent is broad, green, and more spread out than many first-time visitors expect. That is why the metro matters so much: it is efficient, distinctive, and one of the city’s best experiences in its own right.
If your time is short, choose fewer stops and better pacing. You do not need every square, every mosque, and every new development. You need the old city, the market, the metro, one strong museum, and an evening that feels like Tashkent rather than transit.
FAQ About Things to Do in Tashkent
Is Tashkent worth visiting?
Yes. One day is enough for the essentials, while two days gives you time to see the old city, ride the metro, visit Chorsu Bazaar, explore a museum or two, and enjoy the city at a slower pace. Tashkent also rewards travellers who want more than just headline monuments: as the capital, it often has something new to see alongside its established sights.
What are the best things to do in Tashkent in one day?
The strongest one-day route is Hazrat Imam, Chorsu Bazaar, the Tashkent Metro, Amir Temur Square, and the Museum of Applied Arts. If time allows, add the Center for Islamic Civilization while you are still in the same district as Hazrat Imam.
What is new to see in Tashkent in 2026?
The clearest new major sight is the Center for Islamic Civilization, officially opened on 17 March 2026 near Hazrat Imam. It adds a major new cultural stop to the old city and is one of the most important recent additions to Tashkent’s visitor map.
What is Tashkent famous for?
For most visitors, the city is best known for Hazrat Imam, Chorsu Bazaar, the Tashkent Metro, its strong food culture, and its role as the modern capital of Uzbekistan with a very different atmosphere from Samarkand or Bukhara.
How many days do you need in Tashkent?
One day covers the essentials. Two days is better and gives the city enough room to feel like itself.